Current:Home > InvestJudge tosses lawsuit against congressman over posts about man not involved in Chiefs’ rally shooting-LoTradeCoin
Judge tosses lawsuit against congressman over posts about man not involved in Chiefs’ rally shooting
View Date:2024-12-23 20:56:41
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge this week tossed a lawsuit against a Tennessee congressman who falsely accused a Kansas man of being involved in a deadly shooting at a rally celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory this year.
U.S. District Judge John Broomes ruled that the case should not be handled in Kansas, where plaintiff Denton Loudermill Jr. lives. U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican, has little connection to Kansas.
Loudermill’s lawyer said in an email Thursday that they plan to refile the lawsuit in Washington, D.C., where Burchett was when he posted about Loudermill on social media.
Associated Press voice messages and emails to Burchett’s attorneys were not immediately answered Thursday.
Loudermill was briefly handcuffed in the chaos that followed the Feb. 14 shooting outside the historic Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. A well-known DJ was killed and more than 20 others were injured, many of them children.
Loudermill’s lawsuit said that he froze when the gunfire erupted, standing in the middle of the chaos so long that police had put up crime scene tape by the time he finally started to walked away. As he tried to go under the tape to leave, officers stopped him and told him he was moving “too slow.” They handcuffed him and put him on a curb, where people began taking pictures and posting them on social media, the suit said.
Loudermill ultimately was led away from the area and told he was free to go.
The next day, a picture of Loudermill was posted on Burchett’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter. Above the picture were the words: “One of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade shooters has been identified as an illegal Alien.”
Loudermill was born and raised in the U.S.
A follow-up post by Burchett on Feb. 18 blamed incorrect news reports for the “illegal alien” identification. But the post, which was included in the lawsuit, still described the cuffed man seated on the curb as “one of the shooters.”
The suit said that Loudermill was never detained, cited or arrested in connection with the shooting. It stressed that he had no involvement and didn’t know any of the teens or young adults who had argued before gunfire erupted.
The suit described Loudermill as a car wash employee — not a public figure — and a “contributing member of his African-American family, a family with deep and long roots in his Kansas community.”
It said he received death threats and experienced periods of “anxiety, agitation, and sleep disruption.”
veryGood! (66779)
Related
- Amtrak service disrupted after fire near tracks in New York City
- Did you get a credit approval offer from Credit Karma? You could be owed money.
- Strikes on Gaza’s southern edge sow fear in one of the last areas to which people can flee
- Putin continues his blitz round of Mideast diplomacy by hosting the Iranian president
- DWTS' Sasha Farber Claps Back at Diss From Jenn Tran's Ex Devin Strader
- 10 Wisconsin fake electors acknowledge actions were used to overturn 2020 election
- A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico indicts three men on environmental crimes
- Yankees land superstar Juan Soto in blockbuster trade with Padres. Is 'Evil Empire' back?
- Full House's John Stamos Shares Message to Costar Dave Coulier Amid Cancer Battle
- Russian schoolgirl shoots several classmates, leaving 1 dead, before killing herself
Ranking
- Black and Latino families displaced from Palm Springs neighborhood reach $27M tentative settlement
- 'Good enough, not perfect': How to manage the emotional labor of being 'Mama Claus'
- Indiana’s appeals court hears arguments challenging abortion ban under a state religious freedom law
- 1000-Lb. Sisters’ Tammy Slaton Returns Home After 14-Month Stay in Weight Loss Rehab
- How Leonardo DiCaprio Celebrated His 50th Birthday
- What restaurants are open on Christmas Eve 2023? Details on Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, more
- MLB Winter Meetings: Free agency updates, trade rumors, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto news
- Halle Berry Reveals She Had “Rocky Start” Working With Angelina Jolie
Recommendation
-
‘COP Fatigue’: Experts Warn That Size and Spectacle of Global Climate Summit Is Hindering Progress
-
'The Voice' contestant Tom Nitti reveals 'gut-wrenching' reason for mid-season departure
-
Her alcoholic father died and missed her wedding. She forgives him anyway.
-
Why Matt Bomer Stands by His Decision to Pass on Barbie Role
-
My Chemical Romance returns with ‘The Black Parade’ tour
-
Indonesia ends search for victims of eruption at Mount Marapi volcano that killed 23 climbers
-
Not just the Supreme Court: Ethics troubles plague state high courts, too
-
Democratic support for Biden ticks up on handling of Israel-Hamas war, AP-NORC poll says